For this edition of Member Mondays, we’re highlighting the App Association’s Annual App Economy Conference happening later this month in D.C.

Nearly every year of ACT | The App Association’s existence (circa the late ‘90s), we have hosted a group of our member companies in Washington, D.C., for our App Economy Conference (AppCon – formerly known as the Fly-In). Every year, our group has grown, and this year we are proud to announce our biggest yet – with more than 50 business leaders from companies in nearly 25 states flying into town to represent innovation happening across the country and throughout the tech ecosystem.

This diverse group of company executives will spend three days networking, learning about policy, and engaging with their elected officials and key congressional staff members on the most critical issues facing app makers today, including computer science education, lawful access to data, and intellectual property protection.

Ultimately, AppCon serves two key functions:

  • provide a crucial avenue for small business entrepreneurs to advocate for policies that help foster innovation and growth and to share their stories with the people who create the policies that can help (or harm) their ability to do business; and
  • create an opportunity for App Association members to network with each other and App Association staff.

Last year we organized 150 meetings with Members of Congress and administration officials during which our members advocated for the most pressing issues facing small tech companies that year. Thanks in part to their hard work, responsibility for the internet’s Domain Name System was smoothly transitioned to the global multi-stakeholder community, Congress decided to take a measured approach to understanding encryption and cybersecurity of the internet of things rather than creating legislation, and Members of Congress are now more aware of the talent gap within the computer science field, a huge pain point for small companies in the app economy.

And we can’t wait to see what our members achieve during AppCon this year.

This year’s App Economy Conference will begin on April 23, 2017. For more information about the conference or the issues for which our members will be advocating, please visit our event website (http://appcon17.com/) or contact Nick Miller ([email protected]).